Tag Archives: optomism

Hiddey-Ho Scribblers! J Monkeyshere. Happy Saturday. Are you a glass-half-full person or a perpetual pessimist? Me, I like to find the silver lining whenever possible. Example: we here in northern CT have not had much snow in the recent past. Winter ’11 was brutal, but ’12 was The Year Without Winter (especially since the worst storm last year happened before Halloween!) and so far ’13 is shaping up to be pretty low in the snow-fall-total category, too.

In fact, the only snow storms we’ve had have resulted in wicked wet snow. Like Slurpee wet. Now for those of you not from snow-country, there are three basic kinds of snow around here: dry powdery stuff – excellent for shoveling because even a foot of it weighs nothing and pretty good for sledding, snowman-makin’ snow – wet enough to form a ball, but not too wet, and Slurpee-snow (named for the delicious drink available at 7-Eleven stores nationwide) which is so wet that even two inches weighs a ton-per shovelful and nearly impossible to play in.

My Twin Princes are young enough that they really didn’t get to play in the great snows of ’11, so when we’ve had snow this season, they have rightfully wanted to frolic in it. I mean, what’s the point of living in New England if you aren’t going to enjoy the great outdoors? In a rare moment of brilliance, I have devised the perfect outdoor game for Slurpee-snow days.

I bought a few cheap condiment squeezy bottles (I suppose I could have been really good and recycled a few actual condiment bottles) filled them with water and a couple of drops of food coloring, and sent the kids out to “paint” in the snow. This resulted in nearly an hour of play. Yes, I had to refill the bottles every few minutes and one bottle seems to be lost in the icy wonder that is my back yard, but so what? The kids had fun and I got to get a little housework done while watching out the kitchen window.

“Wow, brilliant idea, J. Thanks very much for sharing your incredible inspiration. But what on earth does that have to do with writing?” you say…Funny you should ask. Is your writing sucking lemons these days? If it is, then turn that frown upside down. Channel your inner optimist.

You’re a creative person (you must be or you wouldn’t be a writer!) think of a way to turn those lemons into lemonade. Are you having trouble with your plot? Get a couple of your writer-friends together with a bottle of wine (chocolate fondue would probably work too) and talk through your plot. I’m sure your friends will be more than happy to give you ideas on how to fix it. Are you struggling to put your butt in the chair and get the work done? Find a community of folks with the same problem and challenge each other with word sprints or an online write-in. Is editing weighing you down? Find a partner with the same problem and trade papers like we did in 2nd grade.

Today’s Secret: Take some time to identify your lemon. It might not be immediately obvious. Once you’ve found it, squeeze the pulp out of it and made yourself a nice, cool glass of lemonade!

Today’s Question: What’s your favorite summer drink? I’m thinking about a strawberry daiquiri in my hand while sitting on a beach under an umbrella. Preferably with some manner of pool-boy nearby to fetch my next cocktail. It was a whopping 25 degrees out today. Sigh…New England.